Reconstruction and the Wellbeing of the Family

The Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building was erected in 1939–40 to serve as the headquarters for the Social Security Board. Philip Guston was commissioned to create a mural that promotes the benefits of social security to decorate the building's auditorium. To fulfill this goal, Guston created a scene of the hard work and prosperity of a secure country, and did so in a bold, clear design that overcame the challenges of painting on a three-part sliding screen.

In the central panel, a family of six relaxes at a table set with a pitcher, dishes and flatware, and an abundance of fruit. The girl reads a book, the boys lay down their sticks, and the baby sits on the mother’s lap. The father presides over the table in a crisp white shirt, while behind him lies an expanse of rich farmland that represents the plentiful resources available to the family.

In the left panel, Guston depicted two men, shirtsleeves rolled, hard at work building dams across an eroded landscape. In the right panel, two construction workers appear before an urban, industrial background.

A strong sense of symmetry, repetition, and pattern unites the triptych's overall composition, and the scale and clarity allow viewers, even from the rear of the auditorium, to comprehend the three scenes. Eclectic in his sources, Guston's interest in Renaissance painting, Mexican muralists, and European modernism is evident in this work, both in its style and social content.